Indian families now have a clear legal right to keep their children's academic records out of a centralized federal database. The Supreme Court of India announced it will direct the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to include an explicit "opt-out" option on all consent forms for the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) ID. This nationwide directive ensures that participating in the digital student tracking system remains entirely voluntary.
What Happened
On July 20, 2026, a three-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, decided to apply a previous state ruling nationwide. This ruling, issued on December 12, 2025, by the Orissa High Court in Rohit Anand Das v. State of Odisha, mandated that the model consent form for generating APAAR IDs must explicitly include a refusal or opt-out option.
The Supreme Court's action came in response to a petition filed by parents of four students challenging the constitutional validity of the program. According to The Hans India, school boards were making the APAAR ID a mandatory requirement for registration in board examinations. By forcing students to register for the ID, schools were effectively forcing them to obtain Aadhaar cards, violating prior legal protections.
The Bigger Picture
Introduced by the Ministry of Education under the National Education Policy 2020, the APAAR ID is a unique, lifelong 12-digit number. It is marketed as a "digital academic passport" designed to store a student's academic trajectory, including marksheets and co-curricular achievements. Government officials argue it simplifies school transfers and transcript verification.
However, because the ID is linked to Aadhaar, critics argue it forces families to register for national biometric tracking just to access education. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, representing the parents, argued that the Right to Education is a constitutional right, not a targeted commercial service. She asserted that demanding an Aadhaar-linked APAAR ID to sit for examinations violates constitutional protections and the landmark Puttaswamy privacy ruling.
Parents also expressed deep concerns over the collection, storage, and processing of children's personal data. They called for strict compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. In response, Justice Joymalya Bagchi clarified that the APAAR registry is strictly for institutional use by the CBSE, which limits its scope to educational administration.
What This Means for Families
The Supreme Court's directive directly affects how parents manage their children's digital records. Schools cannot legally block students from registering for board exams because they lack an APAAR ID or Aadhaar card. This removes a barrier families faced during registration. The CBSE must also modify its paperwork to include a clear, prominent "no" or "opt-out" checkbox on consent forms. Keeping student data within school board channels helps limit data leaks and commercial profiling.
What You Can Do
To protect your child's data, check the APAAR ID section whenever your school distributes registration materials. Ensure there is a clear option to opt out, and do not sign if you prefer to keep your child's records offline. Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, schools must obtain clear, withdrawable consent to process any minor's data. If a school demands this information without providing an opt-out, you can raise a formal objection. Remind administrators that the APAAR program is strictly voluntary and that an Aadhaar card is not required to register for board exams.